NDLEA OFFICIALS, FAAN SECURITY PERSONNEL IN FREE-FOR-ALL FIGHT AT MMA

Lagos -- Hell was let loose at NAHCO Shed of the Murtala Mohammed Airport,
Ikeja, Lagos yesterday as men of the airport command of the National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) engaged the Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria (FAAN) security personnel in a free for all fight.

Eye witness account said the fracas would have degenerated into a major
problem but for the timely intervention of the commander of the NDLEA,
Airport Command, Alhaji Abdullahi Danburam.

According to the eye witness, trouble started when some FAAN security men
manning the gates leading to the NAHCO Shed stopped an NDLEA operative from
using the main gate meant only for vehicles entry the premises.

It was learnt that the NDLEA personnel insisted on passing through the main
gate instead of the one reserved for pedestrians.

The insistence of the NDLEA was said to have triggered a heated altercation
between him and the FAAN security personnel, prompting the former to
mobilise his colleagues later for an onslaught against the latter.

Vanguard learnt that scores of armed NDLEA security personnel soon stormed
the area to declare war on the FAAN personnel.

According to the eye witness, the FAAN security men were not only dealt
with, but had their leader locked up in NDLEA detention room at the airport.

At the time of this report, commander of the airport command of the NDLEA,
Alhaji Abdullahi Danburam, was said to have stepped in to ensure release of
the detained FAAN security chief.

Efforts at reaching the NDLEA commander at press time yesterday for his
comments proved abortive as he was said to be out on official engagement.

But an officer in the command who preferred anonymity confirmed report of
some skirmishes between some FAAN security personnel and NDLEA operatives.

Meanwhile, FAAN security team at the domestic wing of the airport has
intensified surveillance at the airport to stem the tide of vandalisation
of vehicles parked at the airport.

The war is also intensified against touts who have in recent times duped
some unsuspecting passengers of their money. The latest move is coming
against the backdrop of removal of such vehicles parts as side mirrors,
rear lights, amongst others from vehicles parked at the park.

One of the measures the parastatal had put in place to check the current
trend, Vanguard gathered, is to discourage people from parking their
vehicles overnight at the domestic airport auto park

FAAN is also said to be liaising with the airport police command to ensure
their men kept vigil at the park during the night.